adeb

adeb (also known as androdeb) provides a powerful Linux shell environment where one can run popular and mainstream Linux tracing, compiling, editing and other development tools on an existing Android device. All the commands typically available on a modern Linux system are supported in adeb.

Usecases

No more cross-compiler needed: Because it comes with gcc and clang, one can build target packages natively without needing to do any cross compilation. We even ship git, and have support to run apt-get to get any missing development packages from the web.

Using these one can run popular tools such as BCC that are difficult to run in an Android environment due to lack of packages, dependencies and cross-compilation needed for their operation. Check BCC on Android using adeb for more information on that.

No more crippled tools: Its often a theme to build a static binary with features disabled, because you couldn‘t cross-compile the feature’s dependencies. One classic example is perf. However, thanks to adeb, we can build perf natively on device without having to cripple it.

Requirements for running

Target: An ARM64 android N or later device which has “adb root” supported. Typically this is a build in a userdebug configuration. Device should have atleast 2 GB free space in the data partition. If you would like to use other architectures, see the Other Architectures section.

Host: A machine running recent Ubuntu or Debian, with 4GB of memory and 4GB free space. Host needs debootstrap and qemu-debootstrap packages. To install it, run sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static debootstrap. Other distributions may work but they are not tested.

Quick Start Instructions

First clone this repository into adb and cd into it.

cd adeb
# Add some short cuts:
sudo ln -s $(pwd)/adeb /usr/bin/adeb
# Cached image downloads result in a huge speed-up. These are automatic if you
# cloned the repository using git. However, if you downloaded the repository
# as a zip file (or you want to host images elsewere), you could set the
# ADEB_REPO_URL environment variable in your bashrc file.
# Disclaimer: Google is not liable for the below URL and this
# is just an example.
export ADEB_REPO_URL="github.com/joelagnel/adeb/"

Installing adeb onto your device: First make sure device is connected to system Then run, for the base image:

adeb prepare

The previous command only downloads and installs the base image. Instead if you want to download and install the full image, do:

adeb prepare --full

Now run adeb shell to enter your new environment!:

adeb shell

Once done, hit CTRL + D and you will exit out of the shell. To remove adeb from the device, run:

adeb remove

If you have multiple devices connected, please add -s <serialnumber>. Serial numbers of all devices connected can be obtained by adb devices.

To update an existing adeb clone on your host, run:

adeb git-pull

More advanced usage instructions

Install kernel headers in addition to preparing adeb device:

adeb prepare --kernelsrc /path/to/kernel-source

Update kernel headers onto an already prepared device:

If you need to put kernel sources for an existing install, run:

adeb prepare --kernelsrc /path/to/kernel-source --skip-install

Note: The kernel sources should have been built (atleast build should have started).

Build and prepare device with a custom rootfs locally:

The adeb fs will be prepared locally by downloading packages as needed:

adeb prepare --build

This is unlike the default behavior, where the adeb rootfs is itself pulled from the web.

If you wish to do a full build (that is locally prepare a rootfs with all packages, including bcc, then do):

adeb prepare --full --build

Add kernel headers to device in addition to building locally:

adeb prepare --build --kernelsrc /path/to/kernel-source/

Build/install a base image with BCC:

adeb prepare --build --bcc --kernelsrc /path/to/kernel-source/

Note: BCC is built from source. Also --kernelsrc is recommended for tools to function unless device has them already.

Extract the FS from the device, after its prepared:

adeb prepare --buildtar /path/

After device is prepared, it will extract the root fs from it and store it as a tar archive at /path/adeb-fs.tgz. This can be used later.

Use a previously prepared adeb rootfs tar from local:

adeb prepare --archive /path/adeb-fs.tgz

Build a standalone raw EXT4 image out of the FS:

adeb prepare --build-image /path/to/image.img

This can then be passed to Qemu as -hda. Note: This option doesn't need a device connected.

How to use adeb for other Architectures (other than ARM64)

By default adeb assumes the target Android device is based on ARM64 processor architecture. For other architectures, use the --arch option. For example for x86_64 architecture, run: